The problem with writing reviews is that to get a good feel for a game you need to play the it several times. But if a game is particularly bad or you just have a bad experience with it you’re not going to be tempted to play it again. Then there are the games that someone else owns and brings to a game night and you don’t get the opportunity to play it again. I’m going to start writing a series of first impression articles covering two or three games in each. Some of these games will have full reviews later on but some may never be mentioned on this blog again.

After some brilliant blog posts from Frontline Gamer and Fire broadside on the games that defined them I thought it would be interesting to look back at what games have had the biggest impact on my gaming life. My interests these days are mostly in board gaming but it wasn’t always that way.

Privateer Press, a company more famous for its miniature wargames, is releasing a boardgame this year, Level 7 [Escape]. Well they've released a teaser video for it, and boy is it a teaser. This is the kind of high level production we expect from expensive video games not board games.

Five actions are never enough. I’ve summoned my cleric, moved her into range of my unconscious wizard, healed him, and moved him into position, which means I only get one attack. Undo! What happens if I don’t move the wizard, or use that extra move to boost his power? These are the difficult decisions that will plague you if you play Hero Academy and I thoroughly recommend you do.

Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, Cthulhu, Azathoth, if you recognize any of these words with more consonants than a Welsh village you will know they are the names of the Ancient Ones; god-like aliens who look upon humanity as we look upon insects. You will also know that this game has nothing to do with Batman. Arkham is the name of the fictional town in Massachusetts in which HP Lovecraft based many of his horror stories. In Arkham Horror the fabric of space and time is falling apart and portals to other worlds are opening, spitting strange creatures onto the streets and one to eight players take on the role of investigators who must battle these monsters, close the gates and prevent the Ancient One from ripping a hole in the space time continuum and destroying the world.